


Shipwreck

by Fire_Bear



Series: PrUK Week 2017 [6]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: (I think?), Day 6, First Meetings, Flirting, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mermen, Pruk Week 2017, Rescue, Treasure Hunting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-23
Updated: 2017-06-23
Packaged: 2018-11-17 03:14:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,876
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11266770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fire_Bear/pseuds/Fire_Bear
Summary: Arthur meets Gilbert on one of his treasure hunting trips and immediately takes a dislike to him. So what will he do when he discovers the other merman trapped in a shipwreck?





	Shipwreck

Arthur's family lived very close to what they called the Valley of the Dead. No dead merfolk were actually there, of course; instead, it was what they called the place where broken boats from above settled after sinking. Some of the human bodies, trapped within the rooms of the ships as they went down, would bob in the valley, shifting with the currents, trapped in tangled seaweed. It was a rather eerie place and while most merfolk feared it, Arthur loved it.

Because, when he had first been dared to go into the valley, he had entered a ship to prove himself and found treasure.

Most of the ships had fading flags with skulls and bones on them and those usually held the more sparkly things. Some of the items were tarnished from the sea water but Arthur kept them, hoarding them away in a small cave as far from his family as he was willing to go. Every time Arthur entered the valley, something new and exciting glinted at him, summoning him down to wrest it free from the mud or a box or where it lay on the roof of a ship. He found elegant swords and heavier swords and tiny little swords which seemed to pair with miniature four-pronged tridents and bowls-on-sticks. There were shimmering cloths which he could wrap around himself. Once he'd found a large hat and had paraded in front of his family with it on, delighting in the feeling of being important. Goblets and plates with strange jewels set in them instead of shells fascinated Arthur and he often dropped some as he tried to carry home as many as he could. The more he explored, the more he found and his cave was soon full to the brim. His brothers often told him he'd never fit anything else in there but he always made room.

One day, Arthur decided to go to the valley again, keen to explore one of the older ships. He'd need to be careful, of course, since it was closer to shark territory and in danger of falling to pieces. So he slid his knife into the scabbard on his hunting belt, made sure the pouch was securely attached and swam off, bidding his family a cheerful farewell.

As he swam into the valley, he dodged the numerous bodies he had seen before, darting between them. He was so intent on avoiding contact with the humans that he almost didn't spot odd movement ahead. But a flicker out of the corner of his eye finally caught his attention and he stopped among a throng of four bodies, tangled in nets of some sort. Shocked, Arthur watched another merperson swimming into the valley from beyond the limits of his town. That meant that the merperson was from a different town, one who could be hostile to his own neighbours and family. Frowning, he watched the merperson head further into the valley, heading in the same direction as Arthur had been going. Quickly, he rolled his way past the immediate obstacles and raced after the merperson, eyes narrowed.

Just as he suspected his luck would be, the merperson was headed straight for the same ship as him. Whoever it was halted several tail-lengths from the ship, merely looking at it. Arthur swam up behind him, keeping his movements to a minimum. As he got closer, he noticed that the merperson's scales were grey and, on his back, stopped at the waist except for a smattering of scales which came down from his shoulders.

Deciding not to let this merperson get away with any of _his_ treasure, Arthur said, "Hey!" Startled, the merperson turned and swam backwards, letting out a high-pitched shriek. It was an instinctual thing and should have called any merperson in the area to his aid but the wood of the ship and the deep walls of the valley deadened it. While the merperson calmed themselves with a hand to their chest, Arthur looked them up and down, hands on his hips. 

The merperson was a merman. He had white hair long enough to float around his head in a silvery halo which looked soft. In contrast, his eyes were the red of a particular type of coral Arthur had growing outside his house and seemed piercing, as if he was particularly perceptive. From his hips, his scales grew up in a 'v' shape till they reached his shoulders and disappeared over them. As well as having the lean muscles most mermen had due to their swimming, he also had strong arms and may have been one of the professional hunters of his village.

"Who are you?" Arthur demanded, brow furrowing further.

"Uh..." The merman stared at Arthur, particularly at his chest. Arthur didn't need to glance down to know that he was staring at his own green scales and the way they had grown in a thin line up to his heart until they had bloomed like some sort of underwater flower. Then the merman shook his head, took a breath and said, "I'm Gilbert. Who're you?"

"I'm Arthur and that's  _my_ ship," he declared.

Gilbert snorted. "Really? Because, ah,  _I_ thought that  _humans_ owned ships."

Scowling, Arthur swam closer, jabbing a finger at him. "I decided to explore this ship days ago.  _You_ are not going to spoil this for me."

"I can do what I want," Gilbert retorted. "You can't make me leave – unless you want to duel for it?"

Duelling to the death, a worldwide merfolk tradition, didn't sound appealing. But this merman was going to steal his treasure! Arthur gave it some thought, glowering at Gilbert who smirked back at him. Now that he'd stopped to consider it, he supposed that there might not be anything worthy of collecting from the wreck: without that certainty, he wasn't going to duel. However, there was no way of being sure that Gilbert wouldn't snatch a jewel or shiny necklace from his hands if he _did_ find something.

He pointed at the ship, making a slashing motion. "We'll each take half of the ship. You stay to the front and I'll go to the back. Agreed?"

For a moment, Gilbert pouted, head tilted to the side in thought, hands on hips. "Okay," he finally said.

They stared at each other for a moment. Eventually, slowly, cautiously, they turned to the ship and began to swim towards it. Arthur kept an eye on Gilbert but the merman kept sticking his tongue out at him whenever he looked over so he soon stopped.

As they drew closer, Arthur looked over the ship and noted several holes dotted across its surface, on top and on its side and probably below as well. Its bouyant material was clearly rotten, like the bodies still trapped there. Cloth drooped from large, felled sticks upon the roof and the largest had sunk into the roof, splitting the ship roughly in half.

"That bit there is the middle," Arthur told Gilbert, pointing it out. "Don't go past it. And be careful – I don't want you bringing the thing down on top of me."

"Don't worry about me," Gilbert replied, pointedly. He winked at Arthur who sent him a disgusted look. Shrugging his shoulders, he turned from Arthur and began to swim towards a large hole at the pointed bit of the ship. "Whatever. See you later, Seaweed."

"'Seaweed'?!" growled Arthur, starting after him. When he heard Gilbert's laughter, however, he spun gracefully around and towards a smaller hole in the side of the ship, just large enough for him to swim through.

On the other side, Arthur found himself in a room full of what his mother had once told him were cannons. Large, dull balls lay in odd places across the room and Arthur darted around them, careful not to touch anything. Just as he reached a door to another part of the ship, he heard a dull thud which reverberated around him. Startled, he turned to see if he'd knocked anything over. Upon realising that he hadn't, he sighed Evidently, Gilbert had been the one to knock something over.

After listening for a moment, Arthur decided that, since he couldn't hear Gilbert calling out for help, it was safe to continue on his search.

* * *

Oddly, Arthur expected to see Gilbert when he left the ship that day, leaving his search half-done as he'd both found more than he could fit into his pouch and had realised that it was getting late. Even as he left the ship, he could feel the currents shift, signalling that night was drawing in. He was still trying to close his pouch (some sort of ornamental thing with a clasp at the back was poking out) when he stopped and looked back at the ship. There was no sign of Gilbert.

_He's probably gone home_ , Arthur told himself, and he hurried to the cave he kept his treasures in.

Now that he knew that there were necklaces and coins in various shiny colours strewn across a room in the ship, he excused himself from his family the very next day and returned to the it. When he got there, he knew it was around the same time he'd gotten there the day before. Was Gilbert coming back? Maybe he had the whole ship to himself and could take a look in the other half of the ship. He was also curious as to what Gilbert had knocked over the day before: it had sounded rather big. Without making a conscious decision, he began to drift to the larger hole. With a last furtive look around, he decided there would be no harm in going in – after all, Gilbert wasn't his town's elder so Arthur could do as he liked.

So down he went, making a graceful loop up and over before diving straight down. He almost crashed head-first into a cannon and stopped himself at the last moment. Looking around, he realised that he seemed to be in a continuation of the room from the day before. Instead of a door, though, there was a jagged hole, obstructed by one of the cannons. Arthur grimaced at the thought of having to move it and wondered why Gilbert had pushed it back when he left.

However, he was soon proved wrong in his assumptions as he swam closer and noticed a dark form lying on the ground. Frowning, he moved closer. His eyes widened as he reached the cannon, gasping as he picked up speed.

Lying quite still, tail fin trapped by one of the cannon's wheels, was Gilbert. Since he hadn't reacted to Arthur's presence, Arthur presumed that he was unconscious. He flitted between Gilbert's head and the cannon, wondering what he should do. Help him? Leave him there and get help? Would his townspeople  _want_ to help him? Sometimes, the different towns of merfolk had wars and Gilbert was likely from one they'd fought before. If he rolled the cannon away but lost control of it, would they both be trapped? 

Finally, his constant movement made Gilbert stir. He stilled, staring at him, watching him wake. Slowly, Gilbert blinked open those red eyes, hazy from pain and disorientation. Arthur watched confusion cross his face before he pushed himself up. In that instant, he pulled on his tail – and yelled in pain. Quickly moving forward, Arthur grabbed Gilbert by the shoulders and pushed him back down.

"Shush, shush," he said, hurriedly. "You're stuck, you idiot. I told you to be careful!"

Clearly, the pain had been too much because Gilbert blinked at him and then smiled. Arthur froze, staring at such a happy, beautiful expression – and it was directed at  _him_ . "Artie," Gilbert murmured.

"It's Arthur," he corrected him. "And you're clearly delusional with pain. Can you hear what I'm saying?"

But Gilbert was clearly more out of it than Arthur had thought. Perhaps he had been waking, moving and causing himself pain over and over for an entire day. Perhaps the tail had been seriously damaged. Whatever the reason, Arthur could only stare as Gilbert lifted a hand to the scales on his chest and trail his fingers over the pattern there. "So pretty," Gilbert muttered – and promptly fainted, floating down to lie on the floor.

Arthur stared at the other merman for a moment before looking down at himself. He couldn't understand what Gilbert had meant. Had he been seeing something else? Did he truly think Arthur's scales were beautiful? Was it just the scales or was he talking about the whole of Arthur?

Quickly shaking his head to push those thoughts from his mind, Arthur turned his attention to the problem at hand. He needed to move the cannon off Gilbert and get him somewhere to recuperate. But, if he rolled the cannon away, he could be trapped as well. He swam down to inspect the cannon more closely and realised that Gilbert's tail was actually under the wheel closest to the hole: it looked as though Gilbert had moved it and, just as he had moved to swim through, it had rolled back and trapped him. If Arthur could roll it away from the hole, he could get the cannon off of him. He would have to be quick...

Biting his lip, Arthur swam towards the hole and turned himself so that he was facing the ceiling. Then he let himself sink down until he could feel his tail against the remaining wall and his shoulders were braced against the cannon. After giving himself a count of three, Arthur pushed against the wall, flexing his tail as if he was dodging an enemy with a powerful stroke. His shoulders dug into the cannon and he felt it shift. A pained groan came from the unconscious Gilbert and Arthur grimaced, hoping he wasn't doing him any more damage. Slowly but surely, the cannon moved until, suddenly, it slid across the room, rolling off Gilbert. Arthur was spun around by the suddenness of it but he was able to see that Gilbert was free, unmoving, and the cannon was beginning to half-roll, half-slide towards him. With a quick flick of his tail, he turned upright, darted forward and grabbed Gilbert by his armpits to drag him out of the way, swimming upwards with a single-mindedness he usually had with the treasure he collected.

They had just cleared the hole when there was a loud crashing sound, similar to the noises heard when a ship crashed into the rocks above or when a downed one settled at the bottom of the valley. Arthur twirled around, forgetting he had Gilbert weighting him down: he sunk a little and spun too far so he had to turn in the opposite direction. Beneath them, the larger stick had shifted, probably moved from the impact of the cannon on that wall. The entire ship was in the process of shifting, tipping onto its side. Arthur grimaced and backed off.

"Wha-What's happenin'?" croaked a voice from below him and Arthur started in surprise. Heart beating rapidly, he looked down to see Gilbert twisting his head up and around to look at him. Then he dropped his head to look at the ship and tried to wave at it.

"I just saved your life," said Arthur, shortly. "And I'm going to drop you if you keep moving. Can you swim?"

"Mm? What happened to the treasure?"

"Honestly," murmured Arthur, shaking his head and hauling Gilbert away from the ship. "Forget about the treasure. Is your tail all right?"

"Hurts..." said Gilbert – and he suddenly drooped. He had clearly fainted again.

Arthur clicked his tongue and wondered what to do. There was no way for him to find out where Gilbert lived without him being awake and alert enough to answer him. He wasn't sure he wanted to let his family and neighbours see Gilbert in case they reacted with hostility. Biting his lip, he realised that there was only one place he could take him.

"This is all  _your_ fault!" Arthur snapped at the heavy weight in his arms. Regardless, he lifted Gilbert up, pushing him above Arthur so he could turn and pull Gilbert's arm over his shoulder. Wrapping an arm around Gilbert's waist, Arthur shifted him until he could easily swim with Gilbert at his side. Then he turned and headed to the one place he really didn't want to take the other merman.

* * *

When Arthur returned to where he'd left Gilbert with ointment for his tail (which he'd had to pilfer from his mother's cupboard), some bandages and a fresh fish tied tightly in seaweed to keep it fresh, he found the other merman awake and holding a ring up to the light. It was mostly still tarnished but the red jewel practically glowed in the light which filtered down from the holes above.

"What do you think you're doing?" Arthur demanded, darting forward and dropping his supplies onto a shiny plate he'd placed on top of some sort of very tall goblet. He snatched the ring from Gilbert's hand and cradled it to his chest. "It's  _mine_ ."

"I was only looking," Gilbert retorted but he sounded weary and his voice was a little strained. He was likely still in pain and Arthur turned away to keep him from seeing his guilty flush.

"Well, look; don't touch."

" _Fine_ ."

Ignoring his tone, Arthur picked up the little pot and brought it to Gilbert. "This is to stop the swelling. Hopefully, if you don't swim around too much, your tail will heal."

"How long will that take?" Gilbert asked, taking the pot from him. When he pulled his tail towards himself, however, Gilbert hissed in pain and visibly grimaced.

Arthur sighed. "Let me do it, you moron," he said, grabbing the pot. Once Gilbert had straightened out, he scooped some of the ointment onto his fingers. It smelled of whale blubber and he wrinkled his nose at it. Then, carefully, he reached out, one hand on the bulk of Gilbert's tail to steady them both, the other brushing against the tip of the grey limb.

Gilbert yelled when he touched him and tried to dart away. The treasure hemmed him in and all he managed to do was knock over some sort of clear pot Arthur had found several moons ago. Annoyed, Arthur growled and wrapped his free hand around the top of Gilbert's tail, keeping him hugged to his chest. Once Gilbert couldn't move away from him, he quickly spread the ointment over the injury. Gilbert cried out again but he soon quietened as the medicine began its work. Finally, he relaxed and Arthur let him go free, backing away to pick up the bandages. Once he'd finished wrapping the tail, Arthur retreated and Gilbert sighed in relief.

He watched Gilbert sink onto the makeshift sleeping area Arthur had formed. Gilbert's hair still floated about his head, making him seem almost ethereal. His tail was now partially covered with the brown strips of kelp Arthur had bandaged him with. But Arthur found himself focussing on Gilbert's face, scrunched up and eyes screwed shut. It was an expression of pain and a stark difference to the peaceful visage from when Gilbert was sleeping.

Which, Arthur was loathe to admit, he had stared at for some time, admiring the beauty of it amongst his treasures.

After a while, Gilbert was lounging against Arthur's treasures as though he belonged there, obviously numb to the pain. "Thank you," he said, surprising Arthur and jolting him from his thoughts.

"Here," he said, grabbing the fish from the plate and moving closer to hand it to him.

"Huh," said Gilbert, looking from Arthur's face to the fish. "You're feeding me..."

"You don't need to eat it if you don't want to," Arthur snapped, drawing his hand back.

Before he could turn away, Gilbert grabbed Arthur's free wrist and drew him closer. "No, I want it. Just wondering if I'm to be your pet since I'm stuck here."

"What are you talking about?" Arthur shoved the fish at Gilbert's chest and jerked his arm free. "I'll take you back to your home so you can heal the-"

"No," said Gilbert, quickly. "That wouldn't be a good idea."

Frowning, Arthur settled onto an old box which contained a variety of jewels, most of them clear. "Why not?"

Gilbert smiled fondly: Arthur wasn't sure if he was smiling at Arthur or if he was remembering something. "Because my people wouldn't like you."

"Why not?" Arthur repeated.

"Because you're beautiful, Artie. So pretty – I'd like to have you as part of _my_ collection," he added, winking, "like you seem to have made me a part of yours-"

"That's not it!" Arthur protested, turning red and rising from his box. "I thought this was the safest place for you!"

"In case your family wanted to kill me?" Gilbert suggested.

Arthur sank back onto his box. "Maybe," he answered, petulantly. "They can be... argumentative about territory."

"My people," Gilbert began to explain as he finally unwrapped his fish, "hate the beautiful merfolk. We're all the same colour, this dull grey. I mean, look at me – do you think I'm beautiful?"

Opening his mouth, Arthur stopped himself before he could say,  _Of course I do!_ He quickly averted his gaze. "I, um... I suppose you're... nice enough."

"See? Everyone thinks that. So my town doesn't exactly like the brightly coloured merfolk. And you, my friend, practically glitter."

"Glitter?"

"Yeah, like... Have you ever been to the surface?"

"You mean above the ocean?" Arthur asked, doubtfully. "I've been up to watch ships sinking in storms before..."

"Have you ever gone up when it's calm and the sun is shining and reflecting on the water?" Gilbert asked. Arthur shook his head. Gilbert sighed, wistfully. "You really should. It's beautiful. You remind me of it."

Arthur's blush from before had faded but now it came back in force. He turned his back on Gilbert. "Sh-Shut up," he murmured. Nobody in his town said he was beautiful, not unless they were being sarcastic. All his neighbours and families had numerous patterns looping across their torso whereas Arthur's was tiny. He had always thought of himself as unattractive – and here was Gilbert, staring at him like _that_. "I have to go," he lied, suddenly keen to get away from Gilbert and calm himself down.

"What, already?!" Gilbert exclaimed. "Are you just gonna leave me here?!"

"Yes," Arthur replied. "You'll be safe here and I have to get home." Picking up the pot of ointment, Arthur rose and started off for the cave mouth.

"You'll come back soon, right?" Gilbert called after him.

Pausing, Arthur glanced over his shoulder and found Gilbert's wide eyes focussed on him with an intensity he'd never seen before. "Yes," he said. He didn't know why but Arthur wanted to see Gilbert again. When he saw Gilbert beginning to smile, however, he became flustered and hastened to dispel the notion that he was eager to return to him. "I go treasure hunting almost every day," he said without thinking. Then, before Gilbert could say anything about being a treasure again, he turned and swam off as quickly as he could.

**Author's Note:**

> And so begins a long getting to know you period and they fall in love. But their families start a war while they’re not paying attention cause Gilbert’s think he’s been kidnapped or killed and Arthur’s accuse them of lying and it gets out of hand.
> 
> But there’s probably a happy ending.
> 
> (Also, Arthur goes back to that sip and brings something back for Gil and Gil takes him to the surface on a sunny day.)


End file.
